Second Half Chapter 40

Until he actually searched for Aaron’s social media account, Jerim fought fiercely against a surging sense of self-loathing. He barely managed to skim through the feed by soothing himself with the thought that, as someone who had just had his dick sucked out of nowhere, he at least had the right to check this much. However, after scrolling down just a few times, posts from last year appeared, and up until that point, he couldn’t find even a hint of a lover.

On Aaron’s social media feed, there were only occasional short impressions posted after big matches, messages left as the captain of the Spanish national football team, mandatory advertisements for sponsored products, and news of his transfer. The post expressing his apologies and gratitude for leaving Tabarona, the club he had been part of since childhood, was arguably the longest post on his account.

If he was going to post such a long-winded message, he should have just held his breath and signed a short-term contract extension with Tabarona, even if they weren’t on good terms. Jerim knew now that Aaron’s mannerism had reached a serious level, but he wouldn’t have been criticized this much if he had signed even a one-year extension at the point he changed his mind from retirement to transfer.

Even if he was a hateful bastard, Jerim couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity for him as a fellow player. Leaving those unnecessary emotions behind, he had no choice but to hit the search engines. After searching with various keyword combinations like “Aaron Reyes dating,” “scandal,” “dating rumors,” “lover,” “WAGs,” and so on, he got the results he wanted. They were mostly tabloids like this:

<Are Reyes and Delgado broken up again? All eyes on how long it will take for a reunion this time>

<Aaron’s “down there” was quiet… Shocking testimony from a current supermodel!>

<Is Reyes impotent, gay, or both?>

<Aaron Reyes, marriage to Gabriela Delgado imminent? Delgado spotted at Heathrow Airport>

“Ugh, fuck.”

There wasn’t a single article from a source with public credibility. Looking through them, the only name mentioned in common with Aaron was Gabriela Delgado. …The actress Aaron had a scandal with 10 years ago. In other words, the person he cheated with.

Even the article about Delgado being spotted at a British airport was fresh news that had broken today. If this was true, Aaron’s behavior—apologizing for sending a driver instead because he couldn’t go pick her up personally—made sense. If they had been repeating a cycle of breaking up and meeting again for 10 years and were now actually preparing for marriage in England.

“This guy is a total piece of shit…”

He broke a promise to pick up his fiancée just to suck a man’s dick? It reached a point where he felt sorry for Delgado. If he ever got invited to the wedding, he would definitely tell her that the guy about to become her husband is a pervert who enjoys wearing women’s shoes and a shameless piece of human trash. And that there’s no such thing as a guy who only cheats once. No, before that, if he actually sent Jerim a wedding invitation, he’d definitely kill him then.

For some reason, the more he thought about it, the more his blood boiled. He had certainly made up his mind to act as if his past with Aaron never happened, and they had even made a mutual promise to do so. But in the end, from the moment he caused an accident because he was blinded by lust—accurately, from the moment he heard someone other than himself calling him the nickname Ari—he felt… like shit.

He was even more confused because he had no idea what kind of emotion this flare-up stemmed from. It wasn’t that he expected anything from Aaron, and it certainly wasn’t that he had lingering feelings, nor had he officially granted or notarized exclusivity for the nickname Ari, so why on earth.

‘It’s embarrassing if only I’m called Bunny, so you be Ari.’

‘It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you’re the one giving it to me. Call me whatever you want. But only you.’

‘Of course only I should call you that. It’s nice, a bunny and a chick.’

‘A chick? Does Ari mean chick in Korean?’

‘The pronunciation is like that. It has a very cute nuance. It just so happens your eye color resembles a chick’s feathers.’

‘…If it looks that way to your eyes. I like a chick better than a wolf, too.’

‘Don’t act cute. You’re already cute, do you really want to become a chick?’

‘I think a chick might be a bit of a stretch with this physique. But if you tell me to try and become one, I’ll put in the effort. By the way, you’re probably the only one who tells me I’m cute.’

‘And you’re the only one who tells me I’m like the sky. Wow, both of us are really hopeless.’

“…Totally hopeless.”

At the sudden memory, Jerim shook his head violently and muttered aloud on purpose. Back then, Aaron’s height already exceeded 6.2 feet, and to call such a guy a chick… Furthermore, Aaron’s eyes were a deep amber, which was a far cry from a chick’s soft yellow. If he saw that as the color of chick feathers, he must have been truly insane.

No, more importantly, he was the one who told me first to be the only one to call him that.

“…”

In that moment, Jerim knelt down with his head buried in the sofa like a defeated man. He prayed fervently that the childish spite that flashed by for a split second didn’t come from his own mind.

‘It’s because I’m home alone on a holiday doing nothing that I’m going crazy.’

Even if it was a holiday, he really shouldn’t be lounging around. Doesn’t a person become lazy and lonely, and then all sorts of bizarre stray thoughts start cropping up?

Jerim jumped up, scrambled to put on his clothes, and pulled on a hat. He intended to go for a jog just like this. While he was heading out, he thought it might be good to call a fellow single comrade like Marshall or Craig to have dinner together. Since William never came out on holiday evenings after he got married.

He was planning to eat out and opened his wallet to check how much cash was inside. Jerim realized that the unsightly talisman sewn into the inside of his wallet was gone and turned the wallet upside down, shaking it out. Even so, nothing came out.

‘Did it tear because it’s hanji?’

Since it had been rained on a few times recently and he wasn’t the type to handle things delicately, it seemed the water-soaked paper had torn and fallen out on its own while he was carrying the wallet around haphazardly.

After looking around, Jerim adjusted his hat and grabbed his wallet. His mother had said it was a talisman she got for a lot of money, but honestly, he had hated carrying it around, so he thought this was a good opportunity. Protecting him from an ill-fated relationship from the past, my foot. Since he had just experienced something unspeakable with that very ill-fated relationship from the past, the effectiveness of the talisman could be seen as zero…

‘Wait. When did I lose this?’

The thought followed belatedly that to discuss the efficacy of the talisman, he had to consider since when the talisman had not been in his hands.

What if, as a result of the talisman disappearing, the extreme situation of fellatio in the living room in broad daylight occurred? What if that talisman was preventing him from losing his mind to Aaron’s tricks, and he lost it without even knowing to be grateful?

“…No way.”

Jerim let out a smirk. He didn’t even believe in folk religions like this originally, but perhaps because so many exhausting things happened today, he unknowingly wanted something to lean on. Understanding the psychology of people who rely on superstitions anew, he tightened his shoelaces firmly. He needed to run quickly until he was out of breath to clear this dizzy head.

Superstition has no substance, but exercise is an excellent psychological remedy with proven effects in many ways. Jerim had benefited from it significantly. No matter how depressing and drooping the day was, by the time he exercised until his body was exhausted, stray thoughts would have flown away before he knew it. Because he had this kind of constitution, he was able to continue playing football, which wasn’t even fun, until now.

Hoping it would be the case this time as well, Jerim left the house.

✲✲✲

Gabriela felt a sense of loathing as she looked at the cars parked almost surrounding the wall in front of Aaron’s house. Beyond the windows that weren’t even tinted properly, faces holding cameras like cannons were packed tight. Some bold bastard even rolled down his window completely, rested his camera lens in the gap, and clicked the shutter.

“Take pictures, go ahead. You leech-like bastards.”

Toward the crowd that had not only followed her from the airport but had even been waiting in advance as if they already knew she would get off in front of Aaron’s house, she showcased the ultimate fan service. As she pretended to push up the sunglasses covering her face and showed them her middle finger, the atmosphere heated up. This was why both she and Aaron had no choice but to be disgusted by reporters.

Taking advantage of the loud, clicking shutter sounds, she ran inside the main gate like she was escaping and closed it. The driver who had escorted her instead of Aaron left immediately as if his business ended here. Gabriela lay down on the sofa with her legs stretched out, not even taking off her shoes, and waited for the homeowner to arrive.